Microgreens have been all the rage lately, and with good reason. Similar to sprouts, these mini plants pack more concentrated nutrients than their mature counterparts, while delivering a powerful punch of flavor for their tiny size. They can be grown indoors year-round; a feature that led Bryan De Stefanis and Deb Diaz to form Big City Greens & Gourmet (1816 N. Marshall St.), where they grow microgreens inside a warehouse. The couple also offers foraged edibles including puffball, black trumpet and yellowfoot chanterelle mushrooms, berries, ramps (a wild allium), and veggies grown on their farm in Shawano County.
While growing up, De Stefanis helped his grandparents with their garden. He later moved from Wisconsin to California, where he met Diaz, who lived in Benicia, Calif. While residing in the Golden State, De Stefanis farmed and started dabbling with microgreens. When he and Diaz moved back to Wisconsin, it was the dead of winter and they weren’t sure how to continue farming. “In California, you can grow all year round, so here our plan was to open an indoor farm where we can grow microgreens and supply herbs for restaurants all year long, so they don’t have to bring stuff in from across the country,” De Stefanis said.
They originally opened on Hamilton Street in February 2015. Diaz said they began with a storefront, but at that time microgreens weren’t on the average foodie’s radar, so they didn’t get much foot traffic. About 18 months ago, they moved to their current space and operate primarily wholesale, supplying flats of live microgreens and packaged snipped microgreens to approximately 50 area restaurants, including Sanford, Black Sheep, The Diplomat, Buckley’s and many others. They also sell at farmers markets.
In addition to microgreens, Big City Greens & Gourmet offers community supported agriculture (CSA) boxes. “What makes our CSAs different is that we offer a lot of foraged items,” Diaz said. Customers can get wild greens, berries, spruce tips and wild foraged mushrooms, as well as apples, mini eggplant and more.
De Stefanis and Diaz began foraging when they bought their property in Shawano County and noticed an array of edibles growing everywhere, practically begging to be picked. “We saw how interested the chefs were in foraged foods, and it was natural fit,” De Stefanis said.
In the East Side warehouse, 15 to 20 microgreens varieties pop their leafy heads up from flat trays under LED grow lights. A popular microgreen is the striking dark pink amaranth, which has a mild beet flavor. “It’s beautiful as a garnish, but it also adds a pop of flavor to dishes,” said Diaz.
Other popular microgreens include cilantro; chervil, which has a licorice flavor; young stage basil; sunflower shoots; and peas. Microgreens are ready to snip and eat within seven to 10 days. De Stefanis and Diaz grow the microgreens in a mixture of peat and perlite.
Despite some challenges of indoor farming such as electricity costs, humidity control and determining the best germination techniques, De Stefanis has noticed more indoor farming operations take root in more places, thus playing a larger role in the future of food production. He and Diaz plan to add an indoor growing operation to their property in Shawano.
For more information or to order, visit facebook.com/bigcitygreensllc.
